SOME ESSEX NATURALISTS
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was his acquaintance with William Coys that led the latter
to experiment with Yeast and its culture. Apparently,
Coys did not realise that he was dealing with a plant in
making these experiments, but the results were passed to
Lobelius, who, in the Adversaria, gives:—
"The fullest and most precise directions in the English
language for the brewing of the most agreeable and
wholesome of all German and English Cerevisia or Beer,
that is at once most suitable for use in warm countries,
received from the illustrious Mr. William Coys, the highly
skilled botanist."
Beer, flavoured and preserved with Hops, has not always
been the national drink of the English, but was introduced
some time between 1520 and 1524. As an old jingle has
it :—
Hops and turkies, carp and beer
Came to England all in a year.
Only a few years before Lobelius wrote his book, Andrew
Boorde compiled ''A Compendious Regiment or a dyetary
of Helth" in which he avers :—
''Ale is made of malte and water; and they the which
do put any other thynge to ale than is rehearsed except
yest balme or godesgood do sophisticat theyr ale. Ale for
an Englyssheman is a natural drinke. Ale must have
these propertyes. It must be fresshe and cleare, it must
not be ropy or smoky, nor it must have no welte nor tayle.
Ale should not be dronke under V days olde. Beer is
made of malt, of hoppes and water: It is a naturall drinke
for a Dutche man. And now of late dayes it is moche
used in England to the detryment of many Englysshe
men."
According to Moryson's Itinerary, dated 1617, because of
the improved methods of brewing advocated by William
Coys and others, English beer made from Barley and Hops
became 'famous in Netherland, for England yields plenty
of Hops'.
It was William Coys who first grew in the garden at
Stubbers the then newly-imported Ivy-leaved Toadflax, and
from whence, during the past three and a half centuries, it
has spread over all of southern England.